November
by Fictionjane
Summary: AU – Ten 7th Year students are nominated by the Hogwarts teachers to compete in the Annual Hogwarts Research Challenge. Hermione cannot believe who she's partnered with. HG/DM.
1. The Outrage

November: Chapter One

Summary: AU – Ten 7th Year students are nominated by the Hogwarts teachers to compete in the Annual Hogwarts Research Challenge. Hermione cannot believe who she's partnered with. HG/DM.

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Chapter One: The Outrage.

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Minerva McGonagall sat back in her chair, surveying the piece of parchment before her. She was sitting in the Headmaster's Office, a lump seemed to grow in her throat. This was surely not right.

She glanced around at the other professors present. Dumbledore was sitting back in his chair, as she was, re-reading the notes he had written, just as she had. Snape shook his head slightly, his mouth grim. Professor Sprout sighed heavily, her eyes coming to meet McGonagall's own. McGonagall could have sworn she saw sympathy there. And she felt she needed it. She was going to be the one delivering this news.

Flitwick, still re-reading his, looking puzzling, as if he was written it down wrong. Slughorn was the last. His double chins wobbling slightly as he moved his head back and forth, reading over and over again, what appeared to be the same line.

Dumbledore collected himself first. He cleared his throat, perhaps he had developed the same lump she had. "It will simply have to do, they are the best in the field, and neither should have to miss out due to their rivalry."

"Sir, with all due respect, are you sure this is wise?" Snape asked, his eyes flicking to McGonagall. "There could be consequences."

"I agree with Severus," Sprout put in, "We've all seen it. And a Gryffindor with a Slytherin. Can they really work together as a team?"

Flitwick nodded his agreement. They all turned to Dumbledore, but before he could speak, Slughorn chimed in. "Now, now. They're both great students, very good in the discipline, they best. She's a sweet girl, and he's an honest boy. They'll be fine. This is a spot of hub-bub over nothing."

By the expressions of the other professors, they definitely didn't share Slughorn's point of view. Dumbledore nodded, taking in everyone's point of view. He paused again before continuing.

"We don't appear to have any other choice. They will have to be closely watched. I believe they will both force themselves to work together for the sake of winning. They are Head Boy and Girl, this won't be the only time they have to work together."

McGonagall glance at the other professors once more, taking in their mood. None of them looked to happy about Dumbledore decision, minus Slughorn, but they all seemed to accept it as the only option.

Mentally readying herself, McGonagall stood. "I suppose I should gather the students."

* * *

A sharp knock at the door brought Flitwick's monologue to a halt. As one, the class seemed to turn to the opening door. Professor McGonagall's head appeared in the doorway.

"Filius, I couldn't have Hermione Granger, could I?" she requested, her eyes already on Hermione, "And Neville Longbottom also?". Flitwick nodded, waving Hermione and Neville from the room, before continuing on with the lesson.

Hermione stared sorrowfully back at the classroom. It was the first day on term, she couldn't afford to get behind already. And what on earth could Professor McGonagall want with her?

"Er- Professor..." Hermione began, but McGonagall stopped her with a raised hand.

"In a moment, Miss. Granger."

McGonagall led them up a flight of stairs and straight into her office, that appeared to be filled with other students. Hermione looked around, recognising Hannah Abbott and Ernie McMillen from Hufflepuff, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini from Slytherin, a group of Ravenclaws and one other Slytherin whose name she did not know. She and Neville were the only Gryffindor's present..

Turning, Hermione watch McGonagall taking her seat. She took out a pile of parchment, and began handing them out to those present.

"You have all be selected from amongst the best out of the 7th year students at Hogwarts to compete in the Annual Research Challenge," McGonagall began as she passed the final sheet. "Now I'm sure you remember how the challenge works. There are five top disciplines: Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. You will be broken into five different group, each being assigned a discipline, with two to a group. You have until March next year to complete your research. Preliminary judging will take place in January, after the Christmas Break. The sheets I have just given you outline the rules and responsibilities of the Challenge. If you have any questions you may come to me or any member of the staff. The Heads of your disciplines have agreed to be available twenty-four/seven. Is there anybody who would like to not be involved in the Challenge, now is the time to come forward."

Everybody knew this was more of a formality question. No-one ever pulled out of the Research Challenge. It was a high honour to receive, to be chosen.

McGonagall paused for a moment, and upon hearing no withdrawals continued. "The groups are..."

As McGonagall took a sheet of parchment from her desk drawer, there was an uncomfortable shuffling amongst the students as they judged who would be put in what groups. Hermione wasn't even sure which discipline she would get, let along who her partner would be.

Neville was surely going to be Herbology, that was obvious. Hannah too, she was very good at it. Zambini knew everything there was to know about the Dark Arts, surely he would get the Defense discipline. The blonde Ravenclaw girl, Claire Horton, Hermione thought her name was. She had come first in the OWL's Charms exam and practical. She would probably get that. The rest, who knew.

McGonagall examined the group before continuing. "Lanley and Crue, Transfiguration." One of the Ravenclaw boys and the Slytherin boy nodded, moving to the side.

"Abbott and Longbottom, Herbology." McGonagall smiled at Neville as she said his name. Hermione could tell she was proud to have him in the Challenge. That would give his Grandmother something to be proud of.

"Horton and McMillan, Charms." Ernie and the Ravenclaw girl followed Neville and Hannah to the side of the office. Leaving, Hermione realised, Malfoy, Zambini, the other Ravenclaw boy, and herself.

"Zambini and Ridley, Defense Against the Dark Arts," McGonagall watched them move as well before turning back to Malfoy and herself.

Hermione's eyes widened and snapped to Malfoy, he was looking back at her with the same disbelief. Hermione gapped at McGonagall.

"Professor, no..." Hermione began, but Malfoy cut her off.

"Surely not! Her?! Professor..." Malfoy raged, turning from McGonagall and back to her.

"Granger and Malfoy, Potions," McGonagall finished formally.

The room was silent, every eye on Malfoy and herself. Hermione was silent with shock now, but Malfoy definitely wasn't.

"Professor McGonagall, there must be some mistake."

"I can assure you, Malfoy, there is no mistake," McGonagall replied, her voice calm. She had obviously predicted this reaction.

Malfoy did not seem to intend of accepting this answer, nor the decision. "I'm good at Defense, and Charms, surely I could swap," he seemed to be pleading now.

Hermione still stared at McGonagall, her mouth a little agape. She was going to have to work with Malfoy, she couldn't possibly be the first student ever to pull out of the Research Challenge. And her future prospects, she wouldn't allow something as ridiculous as working with Malfoy ruin that for her.

Malfoy on the other hand, was not as accepting as she was. He had obviously concluded that he would get nowhere with McGonagall about this. Pushing passed Hermione, he left the room, the door slamming in his wake.

Sighing, Hermione followed him, as did the rest of the students. If she was even going to get started, she needed to catch up with Malfoy.

"Malfoy, wait!" she called, following the sound of his footsteps up the hall.

He didn't stop, or even slow. Hermione raced to catch up with him, keeping his pace.

"We're working together whether you like it or not, Malfoy, can you stop and be a little mature about this?" she asked, seriously struggling to keep up.

Malfoy glared at her. "Get away from me, Mudblood."

Hermione stopped in her tracks, her eyes cold. Malfoy turned to see the affects of his words, this brought him to a stop also.

Hermione advanced on him, her eyes like fire. "I'm not taking your shit, Malfoy. I want to win, you hear me, and I'm not going to let some snot-nosed, daddy's boy hold me back. Now when you're ready to start working, and I mean really working, come and find me."

And on that note, she turned on her heel, marching back the way she had come, with Malfoy glaring after her.

* * *

Hermione fumed for hours, her anger still simmering at night at dinner. Ron and Harry being no help, their similarity to Malfoy in not finding it possible to get over her predicament was almost comical to Hermione.

Malfoy entered the Great Hall not long after her. His attention waving constantly to her position at the Gryffindor table. She dared not look at him, afraid she was say something to make the situation worse. Well, if it could get any worse.

It took Malfoy a week to speak to her. She was sitting in the library, catch up on the Charms lesson McGonagall had pulled her out of. Malfoy entered the library, paused briefly at the door, his gaze on her once more.

Hermione found it easy to ignore him, as she had the entire week. His constant staring a nuisance at first, but now she just carried on with her work.

Malfoy sat down opposite her, sighing heavily, probably in a vain attempt to get her attention. Hermione didn't even pause from her note-taking.

"Yes, Malfoy?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"I want to win too," he admitted, his cold eyes piercing her when she finally looked up at him.

She nodded, knowing this was hard for him, it was hard for her too. There were few other people in the world she loathed more than Malfoy.

Malfoy sat uncomfortably now, the hard part over. He cleared his throat, looking away from her now. "So did you have any ideas?" He asked, getting straight to business.

* * *

End Chapter.

_- Elle._


	2. The Diary

November: Chapter Two

Disclaimer: A characters, settings and the such belong to J.K., the plot-line isn't even uniquely mine.

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Chapter Two: The Diary

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It was one thing to admit to each other that they were in it for the win, but working together was still going to take a lot of work, especially when you couldn't stand being in the same room as the person.

Another week had passed, and Hermione sat in the library once more, Malfoy opposite her, textbooks strewn in between. Malfoy's nose was stuck in _The Advantage of Bloodstone in the Synthesis of Stone-enhanced, Erotic Potion-making. _

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Malfoy, we are not making an erotic potion. I will not be known for winning this prize as the first person to same the top one hundred uses for erotic potions."

Malfoy sneer over the book, "Yes, Granger, that was why I was reading this," he mutter sarcastically. "It could never have been because of Bloodstone, could it?"

Hermione jumped at this, they had been stumped for ideas, though she was still wary. "You have an idea," she asked cautiously.

"Sort of..." Malfoy replied, putting the text aside. "I read once about the uses of Bloodstone in dead-raising potions..."

Hermione cut him off there. "Wait... You want to research potions to bring people back to life...?"

Malfoy seemed to look at her for the first time, his eyes so intense, Hermione had to lean back from him. He began shaking his head.

"I don't want to research existing ones, I want to make one."

Hermione sat back, shaking her head now. "You're insane, completely insane. There is no way we're doing this, no way. How are we supposed to create something like that, before March. March, Malfoy! That's only six months away. This would take a lifetime."

"What if I told you I had that lifetime of research?" Malfoy asked, leaning forward, his expression excited.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, wary.

"Slughorn knows my grandfather, remember?" Malfoy began, Hermione looked doubtful. "Abraxas Malfoy, you probably haven't heard of him beyond my mentioning him last year. Well, Slughorn knows him, because they were chummy back in school, and both of them went through advanced Potions, and both passed, top of the class. My grandfather began some research for the ministry, on the side. But no-one else knew, he was doing some research of his own. I was in the Manor's library over the summer, and I found this."

Malfoy ducked into his bag and pulled out a thick leather-bound diary, dropping in on the table. Hermione saw dust dislodge from its covers, it was obviously quite old.

"What's this?" Hermione asked, picking it up to examine.

It was a reddish leather, with a bronze clip. What Hermione presumed to be the Malfoy family crest was splayed across the front cover. She unclipped it, opening its contents wide. Various loose papers began to fall out, and she quickly pushed them back into their places before they were completely dislodged from the diary.

She turned the flyleaf and found, scrawled in an old-fashioned gait, the words: Notes taken, 1937 – Abraxas Malfoy.

Hermione glanced back up at Malfoy. "His diary...?"

"Not just his diary," Malfoy said, taking the re-clipped diary back. "I've been reading some of it. Its one of the diaries he kept, about all this thoughts and research on a topic. And this one, is about His Death-raising potion. And there are more, I've found three, but I imagine there are more. I just have to find them. And he didn't have the use of the Hogwarts Library, only the Manor library, and parts of the Great Library, in the Ministry. Imagine what we would learn, using these and all those resources."

Hermione looked back at him, astonished. "You have got to be joking, Malfoy. Can you imagine the amount of time the text finding would take alone..."

But he cut her off there. "Do you want to win, Granger?"

Hermione rolled her eyes once more. "Of course I want to win, why else would I be working with you?"

"This is flawless, Granger. The research is flawless, he just didn't live long enough to complete it. If we pulled this off, there would be no-way we wouldn't win. This is first class research. You know Dumbledore won his Order of Merlin for his research, this is our ticket."

"You want an Order of Merlin?" Hermione asked, almost laughing at the enthusiasm on Malfoy's face.

"But what if we could, Granger."

Malfoy stowed the diary back in his bag, getting up lethargically from the table. "Think about it."

--

Malfoy's words played over and over in her mind. What if they could use his idea? Was she going insane, or was the idea becoming less ludicrous the more she thought about it.

She found this Research Challenge was beginning to take over her entire thinking process. Was this what it was going to be like? Would she compromise her other subjects for the stake of winning?

She soon found she was turning up in places without even noticing how she got there, because she had been thinking so hard.

It was one of these times, and she found herself in Potions, of all places. The class had just ended, and she couldn't remember a thing that had happened.

Slughorn was making his way towards her, his expression grim.

"I'm shocked, Miss. Granger, I have never seen you less attentive in a class... well, ever. Is the stress starting to get to you?" Slughorn, lent against her table, making it creak under his weight.

"Stress, sir?" Hermione asked, quizzical.

"Of the challenge, child. The stress always gets to the great ones. But just remember, any questions, just chuck them at the old boy, and I'll see what I can do."

Hermione gave him an encouraging smile, he was looking down at her with a worried brow. It wasn't until Malfoy spoke that she actually realised he was there.

"We will, sir," came Malfoy from behind, making Hermione jump slightly in her seat.

"So, have you got an idea yet?" Slughorn asked, directing his question at Hermione.

Hermione stretched around in her chair, her glance on Malfoy. His eyebrow was raising, he was obviously in anticipation of her answer.

She turned back to Slughorn, his expression grim now. "Not yet, sir. It's still under discussion."

--

Hermione tried to hurry out of the classroom, but Malfoy was too quick.

"What do you mean, 'still under discussion'?" Malfoy demanded. "Have you still not made a decision?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied, stopping and leaning against the wall, as though the weight of it was physical.

"As you said, we've only got six months. You've had no ideas, I've had a great one. What could be the issue?" Malfoy asked, standing before her, looking down, his face the picture of exasperation.

Hermione remained silent under his stare, until she could bare it no longer. "What if we fail?" She finally blurted out.

"What do you mean?" Malfoy queried, not at all sympathetic.

"What if we fail? What if we're not good enough?" She asked, her hands moving almost in desperation.

Malfoy sighed, realising her point now. "We can't fail. We just have to win."

Hermione stared up at him, her expression doubtful. "But my point is, Malfoy. What if we don't?"

--

End Chapter.

_A/N: To my reviewers, I thank you. To the readers whom don't review, I thank you despite it. And to the future reviews, critique me, my dears._

_-Elle._


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